<p>What language would be considered 'best' at Midd? I've heard that the Russian department is great but what else (Portuguese, Japanese, Arabic) would be considered outstanding? Any information from students past or present is appreciated. :D</p>
<p>All are good; some are excellent/tops. Conventional wisdom on relative quality, either because of quality of teaching, breadth of curriculum, etc?</p>
<p>Chinese==>German==>Arabic==>Italian==>Russian==>French==>Portuguese==>Spanish==>Japanese==>Hebrew (just starting)</p>
<p>That should read, “which language” not “what language.” Might as well get a jump start on college language skills.</p>
<p>Sorry, my bad mythmom.</p>
<p>PantherPride: I guess I was wondering mainly about the quality of the professors in each department. Also, how quickly do students pick up new languages at Middlebury? I’m currently in German but I’m not sure that I want to continue it in college.</p>
<p>Most of the professors in the language depts are very good. Some are superb. Very few are not very good as this is an historic strength of the college. There are excellent profs in each dept, but overall, students in Chinese, Arabic, German, and Russian seem to outperform peers in how much and how quickly they learn.</p>
<p>Thank you so much! Based on your name and posts I assume that you are either a Midd student or alum; did you take a language at Midd? Sorry for so many questions, I just want to become more familiar with the foreign language departments.</p>